If you only know Finn Wolfhard as Mike from Stranger Things, you’re missing half the fun.
Watch First, Thank Me Later
Vevo’s Live from Vevo Studios clip of “Everytown there’s a darling” is the mood-setter. Clean audio, flattering light, and Finn doing what he does best: letting a song be a song. It lands like a postcard from a quiet room. Add it to your queue, sip something cozy, and resist the urge to text your high school crush.
The Album: Short, Sweet, and Sharp
Happy Birthday is a tidy nine-track set that moves fast on purpose. It grew out of a dare Finn gave himself: write fifty songs by the end of 2022. Most didn’t stick. The survivors orbit identity, anxiety, nostalgia, childhood, and loneliness. You can hear the “kept it because it mattered” energy in every chorus.
Vibe check: jangly guitars, power-pop edges, cassette warmth, and the soft-focus ache of “Everytown there’s a darling” right when you need a breather.
From Bands to “I Got This”
Before the solo record, there was Calpurnia and then The Aubreys. Think apprenticeship with an audience. Happy Birthday is the leap. It doesn’t read like an actor’s side project, it reads like a songwriter’s first honest draft that he actually decided to share.
“Acting vs. Music?” Wrong Question.
Finn has said music is the thing he can control. Acting is still a joy, just a different muscle. You can hear that distinction in the songs: they’re intimate, a little scrappy, and very much “mine.” It’s the difference between performing a line and writing the line you wish existed.
The Acting File: Still Stacked
You’ve seen the highlight reel:
- Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things moving toward endgame territory.
- Ghostbusters era: Trevor Spengler, carrying legacy hardware with awkward charm.
- It and It Chapter Two: motor-mouth Richie with perfect chaos energy.
- Voice work in Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Carmen Sandiego because range is a lifestyle.
Translation: the film side is not a placeholder; it’s a parallel career with receipts.
Oh, and He Makes Movies Now
He co-wrote and co-directed Hell of a Summer with Billy Bryk, a summer-camp slasher that feels like friends making the thing they want to watch. Messy in the right ways, confident where it counts. It’s a good clue to how he builds stuff: gather your people, chase the idea, ship it.
Final Thought (a little cheeky, very true)
If you came for Hawkins, stay for Vancouver’s finest exporting feelings with a six-string. Finn Wolfhard isn’t “good at music for an actor.” He’s good at music, full stop. The Vevo session just makes it obvious, which, honestly, is my favorite kind of reveal.
